The Pink Jackal [Ketsujo NIghtclub]

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 402 WORDS ■ "I can feel their feet, all the time, everywhere." ■

Spiders. They fed on flesh and blood. They ate away at her when she did not feed them. They needed meat, raw uncooked meat. She had no need to fill her own belly, using the spiders to fill herself. To feed herself was a waste, when she could feed them, and in turn, feed herself. It was a quirk that tempted the idea to kill to feed them. But also came at the cost of buying and preserving meats to feed them. Store bought steaks seemed to ease it, but never were enough. Most had too many preservatives. Fresh meat seemed to be the best bet. It was why she took her job. A surgeon who used the discarded remains for her assistant spiders to aid her. A surgeon who turned to coroner, who disposed of the unclaimed bodies that were meant to turn to ash. She did not take anyone that would have been missed, or those that were not willing to offer their loved ones. From dead pets, to live mice, she had her fill, and to drink, was to forget her choices.

"Hive isn't the right word. Nest might be." she answered. "They live within, and in turn I can use them as my own power." She tried to smile again, almost forcefully. Her mind forgetting her own torment. "Just because a card or a certification says I'm someone to respect, doesn't mean people will." she said to him. Admitting to a few things she never really said outloud before, at least, not to anyone who was still alive. "I could never hate myself, but I often wonder what it would be like to have flesh, rather than an exoskeleton suit. I wonder how much easier it would be to find clothing than to force three arms into the same hole, or to buy larger pants just because of your thighs." She giggled a bit, "but I suppose eight legs would be hard as well, or being the figure of a bear. The thing about mutations is you can't hide them. You can't just make them disappear. People see you, and they already know what you can do, even if you've never seen or heard each other." She smiled, something real.

"Thankfully, not many have learned the real reason for my name." she laughed again, her mood returning back to normalcy. "Life's easier when you're practically a million people."

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 312 WORDS ■ "I'm scary and gross...?" ■

Hate, was a powerful word. One perhaps was the seed of evil. Hate anything, and your heart twists and sinks into your soul. It shrivels up until you become hollow. Hate. It was a dangerous emotion. And it was one, Caitlyn seemed to lack.

"While I can't agree her spot as Japan's finest, I can't seem to have an issue with what she does." Caitlyn tried to explain, but the back of her mind slipped and replayed the same stories, the video, the reports, over and over. "She has made mistakes and refuses to ask for assistance. If I was there against Thundershock, I could have easily overwhelmed him. But against him, he would look like the hero, and I would still be the monster." Monster. Monster. Beast. Scary. Gross. Disgusting. All of those words were thrown at her like metal balls. It didn't take much to pain her, but once any of them were tossed, all it took was one to land for her to hurt. One was all it took...

"I don't mind a man at my side." she told him, her mind skipping a beat, looking over the other words thrown at her. "I suppose a vigilante would need some exposure to what the real deal is like, before you can get a provisional." She thought about it, her own experience escaped her. "If you got a strong quirk, maybe I could even take you on as an apprentice, or even a side kick, at least until you go professional. Then I can return to my normal line of work." She thought about the petty thieves, the burglars, shoplifters, the maifa pawns. Perhaps they were better left to the other heroes, but she was still a hero. It was her job to help.

In any way she could. After all, she wasn't fit to rescue anyone. Not even herself.

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 245 WORDS ■ "I need you. More than I need anyone." ■

She smiled, laughing, her hands reaching out to brush his arm in her amusement. "Don't be silly." She would tell the silver haired fox. "I could never be a hero on the front lines. I'm much better as support, or crowd control. If you're serious about being a hero, then why not take the chance. You already have a hero's support. Besides, you'd at least be a face they could interview our team as. The strong male lead, supported by an army of spiders. I prefer to be more hidden anyways. Maybe everyone will warm up to me one day." The idea was perhaps a pipe dream. To have a sidekick she could leave behind to handle the media. All she needed was someone to break the front lines for her. Once she was in, once they were exposed, she could flood in and let loose her army. It wasn't like anyone could come up with a quirk that could support her own. It was always Lyn who had to adapt to others. She was always the one who had to change. Umbra, Red Horn, Darkshine, they were so pretty, so easily accepted.

But she was a monster. She needed someone to speak for her. For now at least. Then maybe other mutants all over Japan could be more comfortable. Maybe they could be free. Maybe no one would look down on them. Maybe it was worth a shot. But could she ever convince him?

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 300 WORDS ■ "We're all monsters here." ■

As he offered his hand to her, it was another dilemma of which to offer back in reply. With an interna; panic, again she offered one of her own, without thinking of which to use. The others would remain at her side resting on her hips. She was presented with an offer of show me yours and I'll show you mine. Something she felt like would only be the first of many more instances of displaying herself like show dog or something that was prized, holding value. It was a weird feeling, but one she could get used to.

"At least you can turn yours off." she would say to him, "Mine is always turned on." she would offer a smile before taking a step to exit the club with him. "Around the side of the club there's the loading dock. It's pretty empty and no one is really around. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we just messed around a bit." Innuendos. Perhaps they were cluing to a different choice, a path for the two of them, even if Caitlyn had no idea what she was really implying.

If he accepted her direction, if he had no other suggestion, the both of them would make their way through the crowd, all the while the woman held onto the man's wrist, making sure he'd follow. She would exit through the way she came in, only to make her way past the line outside to the side of the building. An area lit only by five floodlights that were on the side of the building. The large gates for the trucks of whatever the club stocked on would be beside them as they stood beside the ramp.

"Do you want me to go first, or would like you?" she asked.

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 402 WORDS ■ "We're not that different, right?" ■

Summoning. He called upon a manifestation of energy that obeyed his actions to be conjured up. She saw quirks like it before. Some people going mad with another creature that lived within their mind. They were mostly quirks that were tied to someone's mention state. When panicked, the creature would appear and fight for them, defending their host.

As he jabbed a thumb towards his new friend, Caitlyn laughed, looking at the creature. He wasn't human, he couldn't talk. He was no different than a pet bear, something that even if frightening to think about, wasn't scary with the idea of it. As she laughed, she spoke. "Oh how funny, we can both do the same thing!" She held her stomach from the pain of it, her eyes watering. It was much more funny to think about two heroes, who both could summon an army. It was almost like a video game, sending creatures to do their dirty work. She gathered herself, her mouth still open, but no longer laughing. A single pair of sticks it seemed peered from her mouth, only to bend towards her cheek. No longer than a few inches long, a spider would creep out from her. With it, another beside it, of a smaller size. From her collar, from her sleeves, from under her dress, she stood there as dozens upon dozens of spiders poured from her, before leaping off her body to just a foot in front of her. One pile to her left, one to her right. Both of them would climb upon each other, taking the shape and form of nothing more than what seemed to be a child, no more than a meter tall. As they begun to shape, they all weaved webbing, covering themselves in a protective silk. Caitlyn would reach up to wipe her mouth, dusting off herself as her two smaller creatures stood in front of her. Giggling a bit after. "I thought you were going to turn into a massive bat demon devil thing, but to summon this... Uh, lobster?" She waved a hand, directing towards it, unsure of what it was. "Goliath, I mean. Sorry. Is perhaps overbearing, but none too scary. He's a bit cute if I must say!"

Spider girl finding an isopod cute? Perhaps it wasn't the strangest thing G had seen. I mean, it wasn't like she was vomiting teeth, but spiders were probably a close second...

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 398 WORDS ■ "Do you want to find out what happens when our lips touch?" ■

She listened to his words. His explanation of what the creature was. To her, it fell on deaf ears. It was a creature that could live in water, surface or below was all the same to her. It was knowledge, but pieces she would never use again. His description went far above her head, but still she nodded along, as if it made sense to her. It didn't. Not a single bit. After he was done, he directed the conversation to focus on her, a topic she spoke often about but never found pleasure in. She had her daughter, but she was unfit for children. Her own fear of having her own child coupled with the unknowns of her anatomy and the changes. The effects of her quirk... She feared that she was still human on the inside, she feared that without feeding the spiders they would feed on the child. She feared the diet would not be enough for the baby. She didn't know if it would be right, and she was not going to risk that chance. Life, was precious.

"Often I just get to somewhere safe and out of sight. Then I order them to do what's needed. With them, I don't have to actually risk my own life, but they're no better than quirkless children with the strength of men. I can't do anything special using them. At best, I can shoot webbing, but I've only ever used it for stitching wounds." Her hair was silky smooth, which was to be expected, as it was the material. Her skin, whatever it was, was just as smooth. But still it came with the bumps in the road.

"On camera, and off, people will most likely always see me as a monster. If only they could all be more like you. Then maybe I could have a life worth living. Maybe even rise to be Japan's Number One. But we'll see." She shrugged the idea off. She didn't care for titles, she just wanted to be accepted. She could be the bottom, or the top... of the rankings. To her, it just didn't matter. "Spiders that exit your body to only be manipulated to take the shape of people? It's the quirk a villain from every comic should have. It's hard to be a hero. But I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Or would she?

CAITLYN, ARMY OF ONE

■ 330 WORDS ■ "Did he really ask for my number?" ■

She listened to his words, and it was to be expected. He had his life, his group already formed and situated. Whatever vigilantes were doing, if she didn't hear about them, then they were either dormant or doing their job. It was still a crime to be one, but they were not evil. For now, she would look past it, just any any UA student trying to stop a villain. It wasn't the right thing to be doing, but it was something she couldn't help. It was going to happen, but she could at least get involved and monitor it, make sure they aren't doing anything that could ruin their careers later. But with the offer he extended to her, she took it up without a second thought.

"Yeah, I can just enter my phone number into yours, and you can just text me and we can save it. I don't have my phone on me right now." she would tell him, but not going into detail that it had disturbed the spiders when one of her alarms had gone off far too early for them. "Then I can text you if I need some help, or you can call me when you need a hero to be your front, when you guys do your thing." SHe hated how she worded it. Using herself as cover for what? He wasn't a villain, there was no reason his friend should have been as well. She had to trust him. Even if he didn't look like her, she had to believe she wasn't going to be used. She had to trust him.

"And I agree about what you said earlier, but if Darkshine never recovers, someone is going to have to be the face of heroes." She said to him, and with Red Horn's abruptness, she couldn'y help but feel she was the last hero who could do a few interviews without swearing, that was... if anyone was willing to interview her.